stvn66 Posted February 1 Share #1 Posted February 1 (edited) Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi, Has anyone ever used a Wintu viewfinder? Are they worth the purchase or just an interesting conversation piece? Thanks. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Edited February 1 by stvn66 2 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/418991-leica-wintu-right-angle-viewfinder/?do=findComment&comment=5750054'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 1 Posted February 1 Hi stvn66, Take a look here Leica WINTU Right Angle Viewfinder. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
romanus53 Posted February 1 Share #2 Posted February 1 As you may guess from the picture more a collector's item to me - but nice one's Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 7 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/418991-leica-wintu-right-angle-viewfinder/?do=findComment&comment=5750068'>More sharing options...
stvn66 Posted February 1 Author Share #3 Posted February 1 wow 👍🏻 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted February 1 Share #4 Posted February 1 I agree, mostly a fine collectible, someway odd to use, but a fine example of the ability of Leitz to target even very special needs. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan mcfall Posted February 2 Share #5 Posted February 2 The right angle drawer, about 40 of these have somehow found me over the years. The WINKO, WINTU, and the WOOSU flavors. The chrome WINKO and the WOOLD are elusive. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 6 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/418991-leica-wintu-right-angle-viewfinder/?do=findComment&comment=5750212'>More sharing options...
stvn66 Posted February 2 Author Share #6 Posted February 2 Possibly the largest collection in the world 🥇 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giuliobigazzi Posted February 2 Share #7 Posted February 2 Advertisement (gone after registration) 4 hours ago, alan mcfall said: The right angle drawer, about 40 of these have somehow found me over the years. The WINKO, WINTU, and the WOOSU flavors. The chrome WINKO and the WOOLD are elusive. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Ah I saw a chrome winko a few months back. Regretfully I didn’t buy it 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deeetona Posted February 2 Share #8 Posted February 2 How long would a conversation about this item actually last? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomB_tx Posted February 2 Share #9 Posted February 2 2 hours ago, Deeetona said: How long would a conversation about this item actually last? The conversation will last longer than any of them were actually used... 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
romanus53 Posted February 2 Share #10 Posted February 2 vor 17 Stunden schrieb romanus53: As you may guess from the picture more a collector's item to me - but nice one's Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Just a note: the Leica Standard in the middle shows the WINKO, while the modified one (to Leica II) behind shows a modified WINKO (without prism for the rangefinder and lifted up to give some space for the larger eye-cup). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitroplait Posted February 2 Share #11 Posted February 2 “angle viewing” must have been a thing back then. I saw an attachment with the same purpose but for a Minox miniature camera. I mean, one would think holding the camera in such an awkward position would attract a bit of attention - if candid photography was the purpose - but maybe it wasn’t? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deeetona Posted February 2 Share #12 Posted February 2 Maybe something for MAD Magazine's Spy and Spy? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted February 8 Share #13 Posted February 8 (edited) On 2/2/2025 at 7:08 PM, nitroplait said: .... if candid photography was the purpose - but maybe it wasn’t? ..if you are in front of a bear (or some other beast), better not to look DIRECTLY at its eyes... so, taking all the time it needs to focus and frame, this device can reveal VERY effective... 😁 Edited February 8 by luigi bertolotti 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitroplait Posted February 8 Share #14 Posted February 8 (edited) 6 hours ago, luigi bertolotti said: ..if you are in front of a bear (or some other beast), better not to look DIRECTLY at its eyes... so, taking all the time it needs to focus and frame, this device can reveal VERY effective... 😁 Oh Yes. I forgot that bear/beast photography was very popular back then.😆 I am currently feeding some hooded crows (extremely intelligent and social animals) and every time I look directly at them, they move away. If using peripheral vision they will come very close. They are amazingly conscious about eye contact. Edited February 8 by nitroplait 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar F Posted May 5 Share #15 Posted May 5 One photographer of note who made good use of a WINTU was Ben Shahn (1898-1969), a graphic artist and Farm Security Administration (FSA) photographer in the 1930s. Bob Doherty (1924-2019) wrote in 2004: “[Lou] Block shared a studio on 23rd street in New York in the early 30s with Shahn and Walker Evans. Shahn and Block worked for Diego Rivera on the famed Radio City murals which were destroyed by Rockefeller because Rivera insisted on having a portrait of Trotsky in the mural. When this happened, Shahn and Block were commissioned to do murals for Rykers Island Prison. They went there daily with their sketchpads and made drawings for the murals. Evans saw what they were doing and suggested that they learn to use Leicas instead of sketchpads. Evans bought them Leicas and off they went walking the streets of NYC taking pics of whatever attracted their eyes. Shahn was a little skeptical of confronting people directly and Evans suggested that they use a right-angle finder to reduce the anxiety of invading people’s space.” Roy Stryker (1893-1975) was head of the Information Division of the FSA during the Great Depression and launched their documentary photography movement, hiring Ben Shahn as one of his photographers. Shahn, at the conclusion of his FSA work around 1939, drew a self-portrait with himself using a Leica with WINTU finder and presented it to Stryker. The drawing was based on a photo of Shahn in a similar pose. The drawing was featured on the cover of the Saturday Review magazine, Nov. 7, 1970, to highlight the inside feature article, “Ben Shahn, Photographer”. It was also used to highlight “Ben Shahn's New York: The Photography of Modern Times," a 2000 traveling exhibition of his work organized by Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum. On the drawing Shahn wrote, “To Roy who made it possible for us to work uninterruptedly for 5 years – a full lifetime. Ben Shahn [signature]”. In tiny letters within the lens he wrote, “Misery / Desolation / Erosion / Cropping / Oh God!” Anyway, considering how many WINTUs (with its variations and cousins) seem to exist, one has to wonder how often they were used. Even the Soviets made a WINTU copy for the FED. Everything else being equal, WINTUs are kind of quirky, kind of cute, small, not really expensive, and an example of Leitz covering all bases. . . Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/418991-leica-wintu-right-angle-viewfinder/?do=findComment&comment=5797094'>More sharing options...
thomas_schertel Posted May 5 Share #16 Posted May 5 It was used for the first reproduction devices with a special lens cap. The distance was set and framed with the Winko, then the cap of the lens with the Frage finder remived and the photo was Tage. yours sincerely Thomas 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
willeica Posted May 7 Share #17 Posted May 7 On 5/5/2025 at 6:08 PM, Oscar F said: One photographer of note who made good use of a WINTU was Ben Shahn (1898-1969), a graphic artist and Farm Security Administration (FSA) photographer in the 1930s. Bob Doherty (1924-2019) wrote in 2004: “[Lou] Block shared a studio on 23rd street in New York in the early 30s with Shahn and Walker Evans. Shahn and Block worked for Diego Rivera on the famed Radio City murals which were destroyed by Rockefeller because Rivera insisted on having a portrait of Trotsky in the mural. When this happened, Shahn and Block were commissioned to do murals for Rykers Island Prison. They went there daily with their sketchpads and made drawings for the murals. Evans saw what they were doing and suggested that they learn to use Leicas instead of sketchpads. Evans bought them Leicas and off they went walking the streets of NYC taking pics of whatever attracted their eyes. Shahn was a little skeptical of confronting people directly and Evans suggested that they use a right-angle finder to reduce the anxiety of invading people’s space.” Roy Stryker (1893-1975) was head of the Information Division of the FSA during the Great Depression and launched their documentary photography movement, hiring Ben Shahn as one of his photographers. Shahn, at the conclusion of his FSA work around 1939, drew a self-portrait with himself using a Leica with WINTU finder and presented it to Stryker. The drawing was based on a photo of Shahn in a similar pose. The drawing was featured on the cover of the Saturday Review magazine, Nov. 7, 1970, to highlight the inside feature article, “Ben Shahn, Photographer”. It was also used to highlight “Ben Shahn's New York: The Photography of Modern Times," a 2000 traveling exhibition of his work organized by Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum. On the drawing Shahn wrote, “To Roy who made it possible for us to work uninterruptedly for 5 years – a full lifetime. Ben Shahn [signature]”. In tiny letters within the lens he wrote, “Misery / Desolation / Erosion / Cropping / Oh God!” Anyway, considering how many WINTUs (with its variations and cousins) seem to exist, one has to wonder how often they were used. Even the Soviets made a WINTU copy for the FED. Everything else being equal, WINTUs are kind of quirky, kind of cute, small, not really expensive, and an example of Leitz covering all bases. . . Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Great to see you on here, Oscar. If anyone here has the 1937 edition of the Leica Manual, they will see an article by Roy Stryker on doing photo layouts for magazine articles, which includes Dorothea Lange's most famous piece. I have but one WINTU, which I acquired recently, out of curiosity. It works and I have photographed it from a number of angles, but I have not the remotest idea about when and how I might use it. William 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
qqphot Posted May 7 Share #18 Posted May 7 I've never handled one, but I presume all these right-angle viewfinder devices approximate a 50mm frame? Or are there even more obscure versions for the fields of view of longer or shorter lenses? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
beoon Posted May 30 Share #19 Posted May 30 (edited) The right angle viewfinder "Wintu" is listed in Leitz catalogues circa 1929 However it also could be used with the Leitz copy stand code word "Stare" (1929) The Leica 1A was mounted on the "Stare" copy stand and the two very early accessories plumb line "Floth" (attached to the Elmar lens and used to centre the image) and special lens cap "Wicap" (lens cap attached to the Elmar lens). "Wicap" once attached to the lens allowed the "Wintu" right angle finder to be attached to "Wicap" to effectively frame the image viewed through "Wintu". This early design using these three items ("Floth" , "Wicap" and "Wintu") was superseded by a later optical viewfinder "Vehig" that attached to the copy stand with Elmar lens screwed into it. Once the image was framed entered and focused using "Vehig" it was removed and replaced with the actual 1A camera to photograph the document. Remember this was all 1929/30 design by Leitz Alan Stokes Photos showing "Stare" copy stand with "Floth" plumb line attached Lens cap "Wicap" for mounting viewfinder "Wintu" Lady using "Wintu" to frame and photograph item "Vehig" optical viewfinder mounted on copy stand "Stare" (Elmar lens not shown, but should be screwed into "Vehig" for framing & focusing) Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Edited May 30 by beoon 2 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/418991-leica-wintu-right-angle-viewfinder/?do=findComment&comment=5809467'>More sharing options...
beoon Posted May 30 Share #20 Posted May 30 (edited) As a follow up to my previous post, the right angle viewfinder "Winko" is actually an earlier version. This is listed in Leitz brochure dated September 1928 (List Nr2371) The earlier version has a larger eyecup than "Wintu" and is a very early accessory for the Leica 'System Alan Stokes Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Edited May 30 by beoon 1 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/418991-leica-wintu-right-angle-viewfinder/?do=findComment&comment=5809619'>More sharing options...
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